Robbinsville to appeal ruling on age restrictions

Cie Stroud for The TimesDavid Fried in the auditorium of Robbinsville High School in Robbinsville, N.J. Wednesday, July 1, 2009.

ROBBINSVILLE — A recent ruling that allows a developer to remove the age restrictions from its plans for a 150-unit housing community will be challenged by the township, which says the decision usurps its ability to control the conditions of developments in town.

The township’s move to appeal the case, which was decided in December by Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg, came after the township’s planning board voted 7-1 last week to pursue the legal challenge. The vote was made without any comment from the board after a brief closed session. The lone vote against the measure came from board member Neil Rivers.

The case revolves around an application filed by development company Sharbell to convert the community, which has not yet been built, to an all-ages neighborhood because of the lack of a market for age-restricted homes.

“We’re not surprised,” Sharbell senior vice president Tom Troy said of the appeal. “Given the way that they’ve handled this manner from the beginning, this is certainly not unexpected.”

The conversion application was the topic of five contentious planning board meetings before the board finally moved to deny it last April. Feinberg overturned the decision, citing a 2009 state law permitting developers to convert their age-restricted communities because of a glut of senior citizen housing across the state.

“I’m not sure what the time line will be, but we’re certainly confident that we’ll be getting the ruling in our favor once again,” Troy said. “We know how this matter needs to be handled.”

Robbinsville Mayor David Fried has argued that the move would bring more children into the township’s already overcrowded school system, putting a higher burden on taxpayers. He also has spoken out about the Feinberg ruling, saying it forces the town to take on a project it doesn’t want.

Last week, the mayor suspended the construction of a pump station needed to install the sewer system for the Sharbell development, but he said the decision was based on the fact that plans have fallen through for two other communities that would have shared the facility.